A Week at the Beach in Burgas, Bulgaria

Our first week in Bulgaria was spent on the east coast of the country in the seaside city of Burgas. We stayed in a beach-front hotel in Sunny Beach Resort. At first, I was shocked by the insanely low prices. Bulgaria is really interesting because it's almost entirely unrepresented relative to American tourism. How many of you have ever dreamed of a beach vacation in Greece? How about Bulgaria? That's what I thought.

The views from our hotel balcony were out of this world. We also lucked out with the weather: it rained one afternoon but other than that, nature gave us blue skies and warm breezes.

Our days involved reading, swimming, strolling, napping and eating. We also spent an afternoon at a water park and almost every night walking along the most hoppin' stretch of "boardwalk" I've ever experienced. Imagine a five-mile long street carnival/festival filled with food, music, rides, and souvenir stalls--that's Sunny Beach.

One afternoon, I felt brave and swam topless! It was pretty funny, because for that half hour, I felt like I actually belonged, as opposed to sticking out (no pun intended) like a fair-skinned, chestnut-haired American. Don't get me wrong--I'd say only 1 out of every 20 women went topless on the beach--but it's definitely way more acceptable than it is here. It felt liberating, even if I refused to walk ashore that way. Maybe next time I'll fully succumb to the European culture and banish my modesty.

Most of all, I cherished the downtime with my brand-new fiancé  and his family. I'd say I got away with the better end of this deal by inheriting the Black Sea as my life-long vacation destination. Am I right or am I right?